Polyhedral three-dimensional structures such as geodesic domes have been used for a variety of purposes. Their use has been limited, however, due to difficulty in assembling and fastening together their component parts. These structures offer great advantages in efficient use of materials, but these advantages have been offset by the complexity involved in their construction, including the concentration of stress at fasteners and the fact that the straight columnar strut elements (or flat planar elements) that typically comprise these structures have a practical size limit.
There are a variety of applications in which polyhedral three-dimensional structures might be used to great advantage if these construction difficulties could be overcome. Marine finfish aquaculture is one of these. The pending application of Stephen H. Page, filed on Oct. 29, 2004, application Ser. No. 10/976,641, entitled “Containment Pens for Finfish Aquaculture” (hereinafter referred to as “Page”, and incorporated herein by reference) describes polyhedral containment pens for finfish aquaculture. As Page discloses, there is a need for a predator-resistant, inexpensive, off-shore-deployable, large volume, low maintenance containment system for the practice of aquaculture.
Page discloses a polyhedral containment pen composed of triangular panels that fit together to form a sphere (referred to as a geodesic structure). Each panel consists of three strut elements forming a triangular structure with a mesh or net stretched over and attached to it. These panels, when fitted together, form a polyhedral spherical net enclosure. Bolts or other mechanical fasteners are suggested for joining panels together.